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Do you Feel As Though Your First Amendment Rights Have Been Infringed Upon?
George Will and The First Amendment
Mr. Will has written an essay, published in The Washington Post (Paywall), entitled “Peak absurdity on campaign finance reform heads to the Supreme Court.”
To quote Mr. Will, “The Supreme Court can begin removing a shackle on campaign-finance reformers clamped on political speech.” Additionally, he believes that there has been a decline in respect for the First Amendment, primarily attributed to liberals. Although he does not expressly say Liberals, his meaning is clear.
The First Amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791. I am not a legal scholar, nor do I have any way of knowing what was in the minds of the writers at this time. However, I can reasonably say that at that time, the definition of speech was thought to be verbal and/or written, and it did not include mediums like radio and the internet. In no way was speech construed to mean money.
On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court in a 5–4 ruling struck down restrictions on independent political expenditures. This ruling says that money is a form of protected political speech. One of the consequences of this ruling has been the creation of super PACs, which can accept unlimited donations from various groups without requiring…
